The Tampa Bay Rays proved to be one of baseball's biggest surprises this year as they contended for a Wild Card spot late into the season thanks to a torrid second half that also helped the franchise claim its first 90-win season since 2013.
Instructional league rosters
• Rays instructional league roster, schedule
The success extended throughout the organization, too, as all nine of the Rays' Minor League affiliates posted winning records during the regular season to collectively finish 185 games above .500. Six of those teams reached the postseason, with Triple-A Durham, Class A Bowling Green and one of the Rays' two Rookie-level Dominican Summer League teams all winning titles in their respective leagues.
"Our scouts have really done a brilliant job of getting players that have both the skill and character, whether it's from different organizations, signing them out of Latin America or getting them in the Draft," said Rays Director of Minor League Operations Mitch Lukevics.
One key to the Rays' formula, according to Lukevics, who has been with the organization since 1995, is the groundwork laid each fall during the organization's instructional league in Sarasota, Fla.
"You reap the benefits of instructional league the next year," he said. "We have a lot of talented players with great character who love to play and have the desire to succeed, and that shows here in instructional league. It allows us to spend more time on instructing rather than disciplining. All of these guys are on spot, on target, right now with everything we're doing."
Among the players to impress in camp so far this fall has been, perhaps unsurprisingly, Wander Franco, MLB Pipeline's newly minted Rays top prospect and No. 14 overall on the Top 100.
In his first professional season after signing with Tampa Bay for $3,825,000 in July 2017, the 17-year-old shortstop led the Rookie-level Appalachian League in hits (85), RBIs (57) and total bases (142).
The Dominican Republic native also ranked among the leaders in slugging (.587, third), batting (.351, fourth) and home runs (11, tied-fourth), and did so while accruing more walks (28) than strikeouts (19) in 61 games.
"Wander has an electric bat," Lukevics said, "and he could have been out there swinging at pitches over his head or in the dirt, but he showed strike-zone maintenance and impressed everyone in a big way.
"Even with all that hype, he still went out and did it. He really has all the ability, just wonderful skill. With him, given his age, it will be all about becoming more consistent in all parts of the game."
The Rays have a pair of two-way players in camp this fall in No. 24 prospect overall Brendan McKay and Tanner Dodson, the club's Nos. 3 and 30 prospects, respectively. While McKay is being developed as a left-handed starting pitcher as well as a first baseman, Dodson is viewed as a potential right-handed reliever who can also hold his own in the outfield.
McKay, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 Draft and the more well known of the two-way duo, is using his second fall camp to rehab the oblique injury that prematurely ended a first full season in which he performed better on the mound (2.41 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, .196 BAA, 103 K/14 BB in 78 1/3 innings) than at the dish (.214/.368/.359, 6 HR, 39 RBIs in 56 games).
Dodson, meanwhile, opened eyes in both roles with Class A Short Season Hudson Valley after the Rays drafted him with the No. 71 pick in the June out of the University of California.
As a pitcher, the 6-foot-1, 160-pounder registered a 1.44 ERA and 0.68 WHIP with a .143 BAA and 25 strikeouts over 25 innings (nine appearances) in the New York-Penn League. He's capable of hitting 96-97 mph with his fastball, which he pairs with a plus slider.
When he wasn't on the mound, the switch-hitting Dodson showed feel to hit from both sides of the plate along with speed and athleticism that enable him to impact games in center field and on the basepaths. In 49 games, the 21-year-old produced a .273/.344/.369 line with 12 extra-base hits and 30 runs scored.
"He pitched basically once per week, throwing as many as three innings at a time for Hudson Valley, so it was just a little easier for him from that standpoint compared to Brandon as a starter," said Lukevics.
While ups and downs from both players are to be expected, the Rays think McKay and Dodson have the requisite qualities, both physical and mental, to continue down their respective two-way paths.
"It's certainly a challenge," said Lukevics, "but they're both up for it. It's no gimmick for either of these kids."